Alaska Move 7-4-09

Well, we were in Canada for Canada Day, July 1, and now we’re in Alaska for the fourth of July. How cool is that?

Let’s see: After Yellowstone, we went to Glacier National Park, then crossed over the border into Canada from Montana. Then we went to Banff and Jasper National Parks (in Canada), until it was almost more than we could stand to see another beautiful mountain or amazing wild animal. Glacier was fun, because we got out and actually played in the snow. Our bear sighting count is up to 7. Rich had to stop to avoid hitting one.

We hightailed it from Calgary across Canada on the Alaska Highway, and crossed over the border back into America at Tok, AK. We got to our hotel, turned on the TV and got the news Sarah Palin had resigned. Are our entry into AK and her resignation connected? I don’t know. Let’s just say I don’t THINK she said, “OK, now that the Harrises are here, I can relax and step down.”

All right, I KNOW she didn’t say that, but it was a funny coincidence.

By the way, the frost heaves made the Alaska Highway more like a roller coaster than anything.

We are now in Fairbanks, where we attended the Independence Day festivities at their amazing Pioneer Park. It was huge and full of history. We saw footage of the Eskimo Olympic blanket-tossing competition (Kinda like trampoline, really). We heard Scottish bagpipers, and we learned about gold-rush towns. We also went into this room called 40-below Fairbanks. Fortunately, they leant us parkas for our 3-minute trip into the cold room. Did you know mercury is solid at 40 below? That you can hammer a nail with a banana at 40-below? That 40-below Farenheit is equal to 40-below Celsius? It is also impossible for it to snow when it is that cold, and skiing is impossible because you can’t get friction. Kodiak, we’re told gets cold, but not THAT cold.

I can imagine God’s powerful hands molding the mountains into shape. Then those same hands delicately formed a fireweed flower. He precisely laid a path for the rivers, and carved the canyons just-so. He froze the glaciers in place, then shook snow down on them to keep them alive. He lifted rock formations from the ground to point to their creator. He gave the shivery aspens a whispery bell sound to gently sing of Him, and strew spruce forests, commanding them to rise quickly and emphatically toward the heavens. He created bears to scare and moose to amuse, eageles to inspire, and otters to bring laughter. He dotted the land with the color of wildflowers, and brushed broad colors on the sunset sky.

Then, oh then, he designed a human…two…and put them down in his creation. Just to enjoy.

May we praise His Name for the delight he gave us in his creation. Romans is right when it says nature itself is enough to draw any person, who truly desires God, to Himself.